Victoria H. Jennings, Ph.DMeredith Puleio, BAInstitute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University

CycleTel™: My Mobile Phone is My Family Planning Method

CycleTel™ Concept: Facilitate use of the Standard Days Method® by alerting women of their fertile days via SMS

Behavior Change: Women/couples who are non-method or traditional method users:- Begin using modern FP - Learn fertility awareness- Improve communication with partner about FP

Components of CycleTel Proof-of-Concept in Lucknow, India

3 Phases Objectives

Focus Group Discussions54 participants

Understand phone use patterns Determine potential interest

among target audience Explore appropriate messaging

and preferences for the service

Cognitive Interviews18 participants

Verify comprehension of messages

Adapt and finalize messages

Manual Testing 26 women/couples

Enroll women for 2 cycles to assess feasibility, satisfaction and correct method use (using FrontlineSMS software)

Troubleshoot problems and determine how to improve service

COMPLET

E!

Need and Demand Exists Both men and women are interested 100% wanted to continue the service All would recommend to friends

Timing/Frequency of Messages 60% viewed between 5-10pm 40% viewed between 12-5pm 100% said it was the right # of

messages

Messages are Easy to Understand and Facilitate Couple Communication In Hinglish (Hindi spelled with Roman

letters) 84% said sending/receiving SMS was

very easy 100% knew when pregnancy was likely 95% reported improved relationship

with partner

People are Willing-to-Pay for the Service

100% of users would pay for the service on top of the normal cost for sending messages

Range: Rs25-50 per month

Topline Research Findings

“This is an idea that can change your life!” –Male

“I am mostly free at that time of day. It maintains privacy.” – Female

“We were just sending the day of our menstruation and then received messages. It’s very easy.” -Female

“I was showing the message to my husband and we were managing our fertile days accordingly.” -Female

Language Timing & frequency of messages Confidentiality (especially for FP/RH

messages) Hotline support Literacy level and mobile phone skill

level

Key Considerations for mHealth BCC Applications

• Manual testing in New Delhi with middle-to-upper income quintile women & couples• Target sample size: 60

women, 24 men• Test message

preferences & additional RH messages

• Results expected January 2011

• Explore partnerships with telecom providers and software developers

What’s Next for CycleTel?

Text INFO to 1-202-660-8002 to try CycleTel.

You’ll be entered into the FrontlineSMS system and will receive a prompt today. Answer the prompts to see if CycleTel will work for you!

Questions? Ideas? Email irhinfo@georgetown.edu

CycleTel Screening Simulation